As Internet usage continues to grow, more and more customers are accessing communications services via a mobile device, e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, etc. For example, a customer may receive multimedia content via his/her cell phone and a wireless network. The cell phone transmits and receives voice and data packets to and from the service provider's network via a base station and an access network.
The customer's ability to access services via a mobile device is dependent on the reliability and the capacity of the network. For example, network elements, e.g., base station subsystems, radio access networks, cell site equipment, core network nodes, etc., need to be designed with adequate capacity and reliability to meet the need. The reliability of the network elements and the reliability of the connectivity between the network elements affect the ability of users to communicate via the network. One approach for planning the microwave network is manually manipulating parameters associated with each relevant factor (e.g., proximity of a base station to other base stations, capital cost, etc.) until an experienced planner deems the result satisfactory. Unfortunately, this manual approach is labor intensive and highly non-optimal for reliable network planning of large networks.